On a Petrov-Galerkin Finite Element Method for Evaporation of Polydisperse Aerosols

Abstract

A Petrov-Galerkin finite element method is derived for evaporation of polydisperse aerosols. It is demonstrated that this numerical method is accurate and computationally efficient. Together with an appropriate grid system and upwinding factor, this method can reduce spurious oscillations to a negligible level and provide reliable results for a wide range of initial size distributions and evaporation rates. Its performance is superior to the upwind differencing method and the sectional method. It is also shown that analytical solutions are very useful in a priori design of grid systems for simulations of realistic aerosol systems, and evaporative cooling is a significant factor in modeling evaporation of polydisperse volatile aerosols.